Modular Building Sets - Rumours and Discussion

[Fish777]

town hall and grand emporium aren't listed on the uk site anymore... i guess they're retired then

[Andy D]

.. Snip

I would copy the first one in a heartbeat, except that I would prefer that it remains a corner building. Actually, I'm still on the fence as to whether I should get the PC, because there are a few things that irk me about it:

1. The doors are nice, but they fall apart too easily when you open them.

2. The crappy car that comes with it. I don't even know where I would put it. At least FB had a garage.

3. The unfinished spire and boring rooftop.

4. The plain interior. The 100 pieces wasted by the car would have been better invested here.

5. Stickers. However I understand that printed parts were not practical in this case.

6. How hard would it be to at least have one more row of seats, or an extra seat in each row, or even some

7. The projector and floors don't impress. Also don't see the need for stairs to the roof.

8. The tall "palace" sign looks crooked more often than not when I see PC on display, which makes me question its stability.

9. This awful blemish on the facade. Here's how someone else fixed it:

^however the zig-zag at the bottom right still hasn't been flattened out

10. No lattice on the windows.

I'd like to hear people's opinions. Am I being too picky? Because right now the PC may end up being the first modular that I don't buy.

All the things you said about the PC are why I like LEGO so much. To me LEGO is art. The sets are the art of the set designer, they take it as far as time and money will allow, then it is up to us.

I usually build sets as-is, then if there is something I didn't like I change it. I look at the sets as a beginning point (not an end point) it gives me something to do to add my own touches and make it my own and add my own creativity and artistic touches. To me LEGO is not about the models, it is about the art.

Just MHO, YMMV

Andy D

Edited November 22, 2014 by Andy D

[Superfunk]

As for the building itself, this the best MOC that I've seen: https://www.flickr.c...57636726564656/

Thanks!

I'd like to hear people's opinions. Am I being too picky? Because right now the PC may end up being the first modular that I don't buy.

I usually build sets as-is, then if there is something I didn't like I change it. I look at the sets as a beginning point (not an end point) it gives me something to do to add my own touches and make it my own and add my own creativity and artistic touches. To me LEGO is not about the models, it is about the art.

Fully agree with Andy D here. I'd say: buy it and change it! For me, modulars are as much a starting point and inspiration as they are "finished" sets.

As for the PC limo: I never even bothered to put it together (same for the FB truck). My modular city exists in the present time, even with all the old buildings (that's nothing special here in Europe), but all the old cars belong in the museum.

Edited November 23, 2014 by Superfunk

[Roger_Smith]

As for the building itself, this the best MOC that I've seen: https://www.flickr.c...57636726564656/

Another good one is: https://www.flickr.c...ith/8482847904/

I would copy the first one in a heartbeat, except that I would prefer that it remains a corner building. Actually, I'm still on the fence as to whether I should get the PC, because there are a few things that irk me about it:

1. The doors are nice, but they fall apart too easily when you open them.

2. The crappy car that comes with it. I don't even know where I would put it. At least FB had a garage.

3. The unfinished spire and boring rooftop.

4. The plain interior. The 100 pieces wasted by the car would have been better invested here.

5. Stickers. However I understand that printed parts were not practical in this case.

6. How hard would it be to at least have one more row of seats, or an extra seat in each row, or even some armrests?

7. The projector and floors don't impress. Also don't see the need for stairs to the roof.

8. The tall "palace" sign looks crooked more often than not when I see PC on display, which makes me question its stability.

9. This awful blemish on the facade. Here's how someone else fixed it:

^however the zig-zag at the bottom right still hasn't been flattened out

10. No lattice on the windows.

I'd like to hear people's opinions. Am I being too picky? Because right now the PC may end up being the first modular that I don't buy.

1: NEVER had any problems there, and I just tried to make them fall apart by opening/closing them repeatedly. Only thing I managed was to pull one of them off the hinge. But if you put them together right, the doors themselves should be alright.

2: Yep it blows... don't build it, or mod it (someone posted nice 5 + 6-wide mods on here, check them out)

3: Fully agreed. However, it works when it's used solely as a display piece where it's seen from the front only.

4, 5, 6 & 7: Agreed, 100%. Doesn't matter too much to me, though, as my copy is on display 99.9% of the time.

8: Never had any problems.

9: Agreed.

10: Fixed that on mine and put in gold lattice. Looks very nice and was literally just a € or two from online PAB. So whenever you order from there, just throw some in.

Edited November 23, 2014 by Roger_Smith

[BirdOPrey5]

I went with black lattice... I have gold already on the Pet Shop, wanted it to be different. It doesn't draw as much attention to it, but gives a finished look.

[antp]

I also added lattice.

I tested both, as I found the gold ones to stand out a little too much, but the black ones fit less with the rest of the building. And I used black ones for the Pet Shop.

Photos of the two:

http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=5786503

http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=5786081

(bad lighting, sorry, I quickly made these long time ago)

Edited November 23, 2014 by antp

[Andy D]

Thanks!

As for the PC limo: I never even bothered to put it together (same for the FB truck). My modular city exists in the present time, even with all the old buildings (that's nothing special here in Europe), but all the old cars belong in the museum.

I don't usually care much for cars and trucks. I built the fire truck just to see if there were any interesting techniques, the took it apart and into the parts bin. I do like the bicycles, motor scooters and street vendors. I usually have something out of the ordinary, like a moon buggy in front of the FB and a TARDIS beside the GE and a mini Mini Cooper beside the TARDIS just to look more London-ish. I guess I do like small vehicles, just not the fire truck or PC limo size.

Just MHO, YMMV

Andy D

[Sven F]

I can agree that so far PC is my least favorite which is a shame because corner buildings tend to be better just by being corner and it's a cinema which is one of the coolest things to have, so I feel it didn't fill out it's potential.

1. My doors don't fall apart, in fact I think the doors are one of the best things on this building.

2. The crappy car is indeed very crappy

3. Spire could be better, but doesn't bother me too much

4. I don't have any complaints to interior, there isn't much more going on in the cinemas i know.

5. Stickers do not go in favor to this modular's popularity, its the only one with stickers, that's a shame. I didn't even stick my posters.

6. another row of seats would make zero impact on my view of this modular

7. I think the projector is ok, and don't care about stairs or lack thereof in any building, I don't understand why everyone is so particular about stairs, I couldn't care less.

8. My palace sign is not crooked, and besides the front door is one of my favorite parts.

9. didn't notice it, doesn't bother me at all.

10. the lack of glass on rounded windows is a problem in general.

So only 3 things I don't like; the car, the stickers and the whole Chinese theme, but only the stickers are a serious issue.

[sonicstarlight]

I'd like to hear people's opinions. Am I being too picky? Because right now the PC may end up being the first modular that I don't buy.

I agree with the majority of your issues with the set - the PC is easily the worst in the modular line. I have the feeling that the general consensus on this set was that it wasn't as strong as the rest, hence the fact Jamie has returned to being the official modular spokesman over Astrid. I think there was also some junior designer that helped with the PC - hopefully this was a one-and-done contract.

I bought one because at this point I can't imagine having a hole in my modular collection after starting with the Cafe Corner, but I refuse to buy an additional one even thought I would love to have all that dark tan as I don't want to encourage more sets of this quality. Thankfully the PR was a great return to form.

[DD840]

I like the Chinese look of the cinema. It could use more seating and I'm not a fan of big vehicles either. However, if I had the money and space I'd try to mock more buildings with an old Chinatown feeling. It'd be nice to have a range of high-end apartments and stores with some grimier buildings a block or two over.

[salsa]

Everyone, thanks for your opinions on the PC. Interesting, none of you seem to have any door problems, because when I had my hands on the PC in the lego store it kept falling apart after a few turns. At least it was an isolated incident. And the "palace" sign probably wasn't secured well enough, therefore it appeared crooked. As for the other issues, of course I can always MOD it, however I'm not too enthusiastic about spending $200 CDN on this set and then having to make significant changes (interior especially). Just fixing problem #9 alone with LDD is giving me a hard time. Plus, some of the reviews I read agreed that PC is the weakest modular to date, and a few people said it wasn't as fun to build as the other modulars (anyone agree?). I'm not sure yet if I will buy it anyway, however I think the PR and DO would be much more fulfilling.

Edited November 23, 2014 by salsa

[Roger_Smith]

and a few people said it wasn't as fun to build as the other modulars (anyone agree?).

No.

Grand Emporium was a lot more boring to build. Tons of repetition throughout the build and almost no interesting build techniques. It basically has two identical, almost empty floors.

PC offers a bit more in that regard, though none of the techniques used are as imaginative as some parts of other modulars (except GE).

[sonicstarlight]

No.

Grand Emporium was a lot more boring to build.

I completely agree with that. The Grand Emporium is the least interesting to build, but the final result really looks the part. Building the PC was enjoyable enough - it's just that when you're all done, it somehow doesn't feel like the same sort of accomplishment.

[namioik]

I'm not a corner modular kind of person...maybe the corner ones just doesn't stand out to me

[BirdOPrey5]

I realize I'm usually the one with different opinions than everyone else and I guess LEGO is no different. Grand Emporium was my favorite modular... maybe because it was my first- but I like the size and openness inside- I can get my big hands in there. My least favorite so far was Fire Brigade. I've done them all at this point except the first three.

On an separate note I just built Town Hall for the first time- does everyone have an issue with the front doors not opening completely because they hit into the columns or did I do something wrong? The doors open maybe to 70 degrees each (as opposed to 90 or more that you would expect.)

[peter_m]

On an separate note I just built Town Hall for the first time- does everyone have an issue with the front doors not opening completely because they hit into the columns or did I do something wrong? The doors open maybe to 70 degrees each (as opposed to 90 or more that you would expect.)

I think it is like that 'by design'. I also have a different problem with TH - 2nd floor does not align well with 1st floor.

[BirdOPrey5]

I think it is like that 'by design'. I also have a different problem with TH - 2nd floor does not align well with 1st floor.

I thought that was just mine... it is probably the worst aligned of the bunch, but not horrible. I do like the elevator in that it takes up less room than stairs. I never realized it had one until I sat down to built it.

[bjorn77]

I think it is like that 'by design'. I also have a different problem with TH - 2nd floor does not align well with 1st floor.

Same here. The aligning issue is really annoying, I described it in more detail in another thread.

[badbob001]

7. Also don't see the need for stairs to the roof.

The importance of the stairs is that it allows you buy another PC set and stack the additional second floor over the original to create a third floor. And you can keep going up if you like. This key design element has been a feature of all the modular buildings so far. If the PC had a third floor like some of the other modulars, then roof access is optional. The FB also only has two floors and has roof access for the same reason.

[Rob1321]

I don't like the style of the PC at all. It just feels so out of place with the other modulars. I really would of enjoyed a more American style cinema. One of those older 2 screen only theaters.

[fhomess]

I just recently got PC after having only PS and GE. I love the styling. I don't want my city to be too similar in terms of the architecture. As to the unfinished spire, I presume people mean that the back is left open? It's really not uncommon for decorative features like that to be facade only so it doesn't bother me. The only thing that really bothers me about the building is the lack of stadium seating in the theater. I think the chairs are nice, but they really should've been stepped. I don't have any problem with the inclusion of the limo, per se. I don't buy lego for display only purposes, so having a car with which a movie premier could be staged is a nice idea, but I agree completely with everyone that says the limo was terribly executed. Overall, I'm a big fan of PC and think it's quite fun.

[Herky]

I think that there are a lot of good posts here, but I wanted to ask, cause I have all modular buildings but Market Street, Café Corner and just haven't picked up the restaurant yet...but I am one of those folks who really loves the build but then I basically just have it sit there on display and get dusty. Do you all build it and then move things around each week for fun or I hate to use this word but do you "play" with them? Mine are in the basement, so when I go down to do laundry, I like to just check them out and look at them, and if I get a set like the hot dog cart I will add it to the block, but for the most part they just sit there.

Just wondered since it seems I might be an AFOL but more on the build it and leave it alone side of things, I am not a good MOD or MOC type of person, so maybe that is why.

[Off the wall]

I just build and display. And, like you, the display is mainly in the basement. A few of the FLW architecture series are in the office since they make such nice display pieces. Especially the imperial hotel.

Many of the minifigs are unassembled and sharing a one gallon plastic storage bag.

Edited November 24, 2014 by Off the wall

[ronenson]

I really like to build, and run some of the trains to make the scenery more dynamic, and just watch it, like a piece of art.

[wondermonkey]

I just build and display...

Many of the minifigs are unassembled and sharing a one gallon plastic storage bag.

Same here. My minifig bin is a horror show of body parts. I usually don't even put them together just scrape them off the table when the building is done.

I like my modulars up on an Ikea shelf out in the open air. They are pretty dusty from living in Hawaii for years but I can't begin to clean off all that red dust on the roof. I clean the front once in a while, get an idea and take one down and mod it, put up a billboard or a park once in a while.

I don't think I can buy just one DO, it just doesn't seem complete on it's own. You win again, TLG.